Memories
by Hecate28
Summary: 10 years since Jack had seen her...10 years since he had last held her in his arms...10 years too late... i own no rights to anything!
1. A picture says a thousand words

Jack smiled as he took a photograph out of his draw and gazed at it; in the photograph was a young girl with sparkling green eyes and dark brown hair, she had a smile which seemed to light up her whole face and every time Jack looked at this photo he had an urge to mimic this action.

Suddenly Gwen burst into the office and was about to start talking when she saw Jack's expression, then she looked down at what he was holding

"Jack…" she began and Jack started to put the photograph back in the draw

"Gwen…"

"Do you know her…?" Gwen said curiously as she saw the photograph

"Who?" Jack said willing the conversation to stop

"The girl in the photograph…?" Gwen said softly

Jack nodded and Gwen saw not to take it any further as she saw the look in Jack's eyes which had clouded over as if he was reliving a distant memory.

"Anyway there have been reports of unseen disturbances on Forest Road at number 28…"

Jack turned pale as he heard the address and jumped into action grabbing his coat and bolting out of the door before Gwen could say anymore.

"Jack! I need your help on this…" Owen yelled as Jack sprinted to the door but Jack paid no attention and kept on running

Jack didn't stop running until he got into the SUV and when he did he drove so fast that the road was just a blur before his eyes.

The SUV screeched to a halt outside a small terraced house on Forest Lane and Jack leapt out and ran to the door hammering on it

A young woman opened it appearing to be cross at the disturbance but her face changed when she saw who it was

"Jack" she said breathlessly

"Emma I need to talk to you now, you and Sammie are in great danger"

And at once the young woman let Jack inside, moments later they were sitting at a table, the young woman gave Jack a weak smile but he could not return it

"Emma…" Jack said softly

"Jack she's a child" Emma said knowing what Jack was going to say

"She's nearly sixteen…"

"And that's still a child Jack"

"Emma you can't say you haven't noticed it" Jack sighed

"Noticed what?" Emma said in full knowledge of what Jack meant

"Noticed what she can do…we picked up a reading of a disturbance today and you know what that means"

Emma nodded and Jack touched her hand as a means of comfort

"Have you told her?"

"How can I tell her Jack?"

"She needs to know at the moment she's in great danger"

"No"

"Emma you can deny it as much as you want but this time it's for real"

"So what am I meant to say?"

"Tell her the truth"

"Yeah I'm can just go up to her and say oh by the way Sammie you actually have secret powers you can channel energy through people's emotions and now some aliens are after you because they want to get these powers and use them to destroy humanity!"

"Maybe not quite so dramatic" Jack smiled

"Jack this isn't a laughing matter"

"Sorry but she needs to get put of danger you both do"

"No Jack...please don't take her from me"

"Then come with her"

"No Jack i can't leave here it's my home and you know as well as i do that it'll follow us wherever we go"

"Then let me help"

"No Jack torchwood can't get involved unless it's absoloutly necessary i don't want Sammie to get involved unless it's a last resort and i mean a last resort and untill then we stay here Jack, you know Sammie is my life and i need her"

Emma looked so determied Jack tried to argue back but with no luck eventually the agreed thar torchwood would observe and keep an eye on them but they wouldn't interfere unless it was a last resort

"Promise me something Jack…"

"Ok…"

"If anything happens…"

"Nothing will happen my team will look after you"

"No listen if anything does happen promise you will look after her"

"I promise"

Jack left the small terraced house with a small tear falling down his cheek he sniffed and dried his eyes and drove away in the SUV telling himself everything was going to be ok

Back on the house Emma sat down on the chair and sighed she know that the day was going to come soon but she needed some time, she was so deep in thought she didn't even see the shadow come up behind her.

"Hey!" a young boy came up behind a girl and gave her a playful push on the back

Ow!" she said turning and pouting

"Aww poor lambkins!" said the boy laughing

The girl gave him a push back which nearly caught him off balance

"Ow Sammie!" the boy said jokingly

"You started it" Sammie stuck her tongue out and continued walking

"You deserved it"

"For doing what?"

"Hitting me earlier"

"Yeah and I only did that because you threw paper at me"

"I wasn't aiming for you"

"But you hit me"

"Aww did the nasty paper ball hurt little baby Sammie"

"Hey less of the little baby and yes it did hurt actually!"

Well I am so incredibly sorry" he said grinning

"Yeah right"

"I am!"

"Oh and this has happened ooh about a million times already"

"Oh Sammie you have to forgive me I can't get on with my life if I have wronged you in this way you have to forgive me gracious one!" he said starting into a routine she had heard millions of times before

She raised an eyebrow "You are such a drama queen"

"I know and that's why you love me"

She gave a sarcastic laugh but the boy grabbed her and hugged her

Sammie squealed at this sudden action

"Erm...I can't really breathe!" she said laughing and the boy let her go and shook his head in mock annoyance

"Always exaggerating!"

"Well if you tried to strangle me!"

"I gave you a hug" he said tapping her head lightly

"Ow!"

"It's ok it's only your head no loss there"

Sammie stuck her tongue out and he just grinned, they carried on walking and chatting about everything for a bit until they got to a junction

"Well I'll see you tomorrow Sammie" the boy said turning the opposite direction

"Bye" she said turning down the road and immediately something caught her eye, there were police cars, fire engines and ambulances blocking half the road so she couldn't get all the way down, suddenly she had sick feeling that this was her house and she walked a little further getting closer to the tape blocking the road she surveyed the scene as she walked and among all the hustle of this was a black SUV and five people standing outside it looking grim, then one moved off carrying a silver suitcase into the house and the other three followed; only one of them was left ands Sammie drew closer she saw he was tall and had brown hair and was wearing an old style military coat which looked like something out of WW2 there was something familiar about him but Sammie couldn't think what it was, something in her past was trying to get her attention but she couldn't quite remember it; she stopped and closed her eyes and it suddenly came rushing back to her.

_**A tall man leant over her cot and sang gently at the young infant **_

**"_Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket_**

_**Save it for a rainy day**_

_**Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket never let it get away**_

_**For love may come and tap you on the shoulder some starless night**_

_**And just in case you feel you want to hold her**_

_**You'll have that pocketful of starlight"**_

_**The sleepy infant gurgled happily at his song and eventually fell asleep**_

_**The man kissed her gently on her forehead and left the room taking one last glance at the peaceful infant.**_

Sammie sighed at this memory, it always made her feel sad even though it was a happy time, maybe it was that she didn't know who the man was that made her feel so sad but when she looked in the man's eyes up ahead something seemed to piece together inside her but she just shook her head and told herself it was a coincidence.

As she got to the tape the man looked up and held her gaze for a few seconds, Sammie could sense something inside him was hurting him when he looked at her so she dropped her gaze to the floor. When she looked up again she saw he was walking over to her but she just stood there as if her feet were stuck to the floor

"Sammie…" he said softly

Sammie's eyes opened widely when he spoke, she recognised that voice but she couldn't quite remember from where she closed her eyes and tried to think

_**The young infant stumbled forward unsteady on her feet many times she had nearly fallen over but she always kept her balance**_

**"_Sammie" a gentle voice cooed and the infant stumbled over to the man who scooped her up in a hug and in return the infant gurgled with laughter, the man turned to a brown haired woman sitting next to him and smiled and she leant in to kiss him _**

**"_I love you" he whispered in her ear_**

"Sammie…" the man said again and Sammie snapped out of her thoughts

"Erm…what…sorry" she blushed

The man stuck out his hand and said "I'm Captain Jack Harkness"

Sammie shook his hand gently but she still had a bemused expression on her face

I knew your mother and…"

"Knew…" Sammie said softly and Jack closed his eyes realising his mistake Sammie's eyes grew big as she witnessed a body being carried out of a house, her house she gasped and turned pale, and started shaking

"Sammie…"

"What happened to her?" she gulped not knowing if she wanted to know the answer

"She…she…"

"What the hell happened to her?" Sammie said getting angry

"Sammie she's dead"

Sammie closed her eyes wishing it was all a dream when she looked at Jack again he saw she had tears silently falling down her face

"I am so sorry" he whispered

"No….no it's not true she was fine this morning how….when?" she cried

"She…she was attacked by a shadow we couldn't save her in time"

"What's a shadow?" she said tears falling down her cheek

"A shade from the dark realms"

Jack put a comforting hand on her shoulder but she shook it off and glowered at him, she didn't like feeling vuneralble and she liked it even less in front of this stranger

"So why are you here then?" she said through gritted teeth fighting back tears

"Because….I work for Torchwood"

"What's Torchwood?"

"It's an organisation that deals with aliens"

"Aliens?" she said raising an eyebrow "Yeah because I can really see that E.T is going to take over the world"

Jack sighed she was going to a difficult one

"Anyway" she started "How did you know my name?"

And Jack closed his eyes for a moment

_**Jack smiled as he put his arm round the heavily pregnant woman**_

**"_How about Jessica?" she asked flicking through the book of baby names_**

**"_Jessica Harkness" he said letting the name roll of his tongue _**

**"_No…maybe not then" she smiled softly _**

**"_What about Sammie?" he said propping his arm up against the pillow_**

**"_Sammie Harkness" she said nodding "I like it"_**

_**Jack put his hand on the protruding bump and felt a small kick "I think she likes it too"**_

**"_She?"_**

**"_Yeah it's defiantly going to be a girl" Jack grinned _**

**"_Sammie Harkness" Emma smiled _**

"I said how did you know my name?" Sammie repeated

"I knew your mother"

"How come she never mentioned you?"

"So she could protect you"

"From what?"

"From the thing that killed her"

Sammie looked shocked and started a few steps back and Jack reached out to steady her

"Sammie you need to come with me" he said gently

"Where?"

"To our base?"

"Why?"

"Because I promised your mother I would look after you if anything happened to her" Jack sighed sadly and Sammie stumbled back in shock, Jack put out his hand to steady the girl and at that moment Sammie closed her eyes trying to fight back the returning and memories came flooding back

_**Jack softly bounced the infant on his knee smiling at the gurgles of laughter she made, everything about her was perfect in his eyes; she had a tuft of brown hair which always stuck up making her look like a small cockatoo and she had a pair of piercing green eyes which always made Jack shiver when he looked into them**_

**"_I love you Sammie" he grinned and she put head on one side and babbled in baby talk in reply, Jack laughed and kissed her gently on the forehead _**

When Sammie reopened her eyes and looked up at Jack he had a shocked expression on his face

"What?" she said quickly

"Wow I didn't know that it was that strong" he murmured to himself

"What was?"

"Sammie we need to get going" he said dodging her question as he led her over to a small group of people standing outside of a big black S.U.V they smiled as he walked over and Sammie felt herself turn red as their gaze fell upon her

"Team this is Sammie" he said introducing her

"Sammie this is my team" he said nodding towards the group of people

"Dr Owen Harper" a small brown haired man said half nodding towards her but with his eyes fixed on his work

"Toshiko Sato" a dark haired woman said smiling softly

"Gwen Cooper" the last woman said and held out her hand, Sammie shook it gently

"And this is Ianto Jones" Jack said putting his hand on the shoulder of the man in a dark suit

"Pleased to meet you" he said smiling at Sammie

"Sammie's coming back to the hub with us" Jack gave a knowing nod to his team

"Jack is she the one…." Asked Owen and Jack nodded

Gwen looked at Sammie and tried to remember where she had seen her face before and then it clicked, the photograph on Jack's desk, could they be some relation, there was a resemblance…

Sammie looked up sadly into Gwen's eyes and there was something in them that sent a shiver up Gwen's spine, the young girls eyes felt like they were piercing though her

Jack put a hand on Sammie's shoulder and gently led her into the S.U.V and as they left the tragic scene behind Sammie looked out of the window scared about what was going to happen to her

Jack looked back at Sammie and smiled it had been 10 years since he had last held her like that…10 years since he had been with Emma and her and he realised he was 10 years to late.


	2. You're just different

Sammie cautiously stepped out of the S.U.V into the quickly darkening evening and shivered as the cool winds whipped around her, she looked back at her companions wondering what was going to happen to her.

Jack stepped up beside her and gently put his hand on her shoulder but she coldly shook it off and glowered at him.

The other members of the team were bringing the last of the equipment out of the boot and were muttering amongst themselves

"So what do you think?" Owen started

"Of what?" Toshiko asked innocently

"Her" he said gesturing to the young girl

"Owen I think you're being paranoid, she just a child" Gwen said

"So why did he need all of us to bring her here then if she's just a child then what is Jack so afraid of"

Gwen and Toshiko looked at Owen and realised that he was right, _why did Jack need all of them, what was he scared of and why was the girl so important?_

Jack lead the young girl towards the small tourist information centre they used as a decoy, as he walked alongside her, he could feel her shivering in the cool air but when he caught a glimpse of her expression it was as cold and blank as the cloudy night sky the walked under.

A few minutes later they were inside the hub, the rest of the team busied themselves for the arrival of the young girl and Jack lead her over to what Sammie assumed was a cross between a medical station and a morgue. She stood there with her arms folded scowling at the small smiles Jack passed her way.

Within a few minutes Owen had reappeared wearing a lab coat and putting on some latex medical gloves.

"If you wouldn't mind sitting up here please" Owen said in a casual tone still not looking her in the eye, she stood there not moving

"Sammie…" Jack started but she closed her eyes and ignored him. A sudden memory flashed into her mind

_Owen stood dancing on the rooftop with a tall dark haired woman in a dress, he looked happy, and then the scene changed to him standing by a plane_

"_What about me please, please don't go" Owen begged the woman_

_The woman took off her scarf and put it round his neck and kissed him gently and softly said "What memories I'm taking with me"_

_Slowly Owen nodded and shut the plane door and watched the woman fly off into the distance, a few silent tears fall down his cheeks_

Sammie's eyes flashed open and she gasped, Jack and Owen both stood there almost as alarmed as she was, she looked at Owen in shock _that wasn't her memory it was his!_

As she looked up at Jack she saw his eyes deep in thought

"Owen you know what to do, I want all the necessary tests done as soon as possible" he murmured quietly to Owen

"What are you going to do?" Owen asked back

"I need to do some research" and Owen nodded as Jack left the room.

He half turned to Sammie and still without looking at her asked her "Can you sit up their please" and still with her mouth hanging open she did as she was told

Owen busied himself preparing for these tests Sammie was about to undertake.

She watched him carefully her green eyes following every move and finally after a while she spoke

"Why wont you look at me?" Owen made no reply so she asked again "Why wont you look at…"

"Because you're not right" he said interrupting her

"Oh thanks you really know how to make a girl feel special" she said sarcastically

"I can't help it you are so wrong"

"So you're scared of me?"

"No…"

"Then look at me!"

Owen sighed and looked up into her eyes, flashes of memories flowed through Sammie's mind and all the time the tall dark haired lady kept reappearing. The hub lights flashed on and off and Jack and Ianto came running into where Owen and Sammie were

"What happened?" Jack said

Owen gestured towards Sammie "Her"

Ianto sighed "I'll go down to the basement and sort out the generator then"

Jack stood there for a few minutes looking at Sammie and then left

"Well that was why I didn't look at you"

"What?" Sammie asked "You mean I did that with the lights?"

"As I said you're just wrong" Owen said with a glimmer of what could be classed as a smiel

Suddenly the lights stopped flashing and Owen just sighed and continued the medical examination.

Jack sat in his office with his head in his hands, he was so deep in thought he didn't even hear Gwen enter

"Are you ok?" she said softly and Jack jumped

"Yeah…" he said after composing himself

"She did that didn't she?"

"Yeah…"

"How?"

"I don't know exactly but she's sort of an energy source and she channels it through people's emotion but it seems to be getting stronger"

"Does she know?"

"No…and she doesn't know how to control it either"

"You need to tell her"

"I know I should have told her ten years ago"

Gwen looked confused but Jack stood up abruptly and made his way towards the medical bay.

Owen stood there with Sammie in silence writing down the results, both of them looked up when Jack entered by Sammie's gaze quickly dropped to the floor. Owen passed the clipboard to Jack and left giving a small smile towards Sammie. When he was gone Sammie stared up at the lights

"I made them do that" she said without looking at Jack

"Yeah" he said slowly

"How"

"It's hard to explain"

"It's always hard to explain" she said, the coldness creeping back into her voice

"It's hard to explain because I don't know how it works myself"

"He said I was wrong"

"You're not wrong, you're just different"

She snorted in disgust "How many times have I heard that before"

"You're different because you seem to be able to channel energy…by using people's emotions and memories"

She looked directly at Jack "I'm too old for fairy stories"

"This isn't a story it's true"

"Prove it"

"I can't prove it because you're the only one who can do that"

Sammie paused for a moment "Did she know?"

"Who?"

"My mother"

Jack nodded

"How long did she know about it"

"Forever" Jack said slowly

"That's typical of her"

"She was trying to protect you"

"No because if she was trying to protect me then she would be here and I wouldn't be here being treated as a freak!" she shouted and the lights flickered threateningly

"I promised her"

"Yeah well no one asked me what I wanted"

"You don't have much of a choice"

"Yes I do!" she screamed and with that she got up and ran out of the hub dodging past Ianto at the front desk of the faux tourist information and into the cool night air.

Sammie's mind was a blur she had no idea where she was going but she knew she had to get away.


	3. The truth comes out

Sammie ran out into the night, ignoring the cold rain that was pouring down her neck, she sobbed loudly as she ran, she had no idea where she was going but she knew she had to get away from him. _Who did he think he was ordering her about like that?_

Sammie skidded around a corner and straight into a pair of strong arms. She struggled to get free but the arms held her tightly, there was something familiar about their grasp but she couldn't remember, slowly she looked up and saw Jack standing there, his brown hair dripping from the pouring rain and his face held a worried frown, she kept struggling but Jack held on tight

"Hey it's ok" he said holding her tight

"Let me go" she snarled

"Sammie I'm not going to do that" he said slowly

"Let me go" she snarled again"

"Sammie listen to me, if I let you go you're going to be in danger"

"I don't care" she cried

Jack sighed and sat her down on the floor, his arms still wrapped around her

"I know you're scared" he said and she shook her head violently

"I don't care" she repeated

"I know you're scared and this all seems strange but this is what your mother wanted"

"Then why didn't she tell me?" she sobbed

"So she could protect you?"

"From what?"

"The thing that killed her" and Jack felt her body go tense in his arms

"Why didn't it kill me then?"

"Because you weren't there at the time so it got angry and killed her" and Jack heard Sammie gasp between the sobs the came flooding out of her

"Why does it want me?"

"She never told you did she?"

"Told me what?" her tears of pain we turning to tears of anger

"You're special, you have this ability, you can…you can channel energy through people's memories and emotions"

"How?"

"I don't know but you have to believe me"

"Prove it"

Jack sighed and paused before closing his eyes

Sammie felt a force push through her very soul like a thousand volts of electricity and suddenly the small Cardiff backstreet changed into an old dance hall where people where laughing and smiling

_Jack walked over to a young girl and smiled_

"_You look beautiful Estelle" he said taking her in his arms_

"_Captain Jack Harkness you should know flattery gets you no where" she smiled _

"_I can't help but tell you the truth" he smiled back and leant in to kiss her, they embraced and when they broke apart they laughed_

"_I love you Jack" she said_

"_I love you too" Jack whispered back and he took her off towards the dancing and they whirled around the floor staring lovingly into each others eyes _

Sammie gasped as the street turned back to normal, the street light above her pulsed with light and then it turned off

Jack opened his eyes and looked at Sammie "Now do you see?"

Sammie nodded slowly with her mouth hanging open

"Sammie, I promised your mother I would look after you and I wouldn't let anything happen to you but I can't do that unless you cooperate with me"

Sammie nodded slowly and Jack stood up "The hub is the safest place for you to be" he said taking her hand and pulling her up gently.

The pair walked off into the darkness and Sammie smiled gently, she felt safe with him. Behind them the streetlight flickered gently.

By the time they got back to the hub both of them were soaked. Ianto stood in reception and smiled softly when he saw Sammie and he led her into the hub and gave her some of her own dry clothes.

Jack walked into his office and took off his wet coat, Gwen entered the office almost immediately and started bombarding him with questions

"Is she ok?, What happened Jack?, Are you ok? Have you worked out how she does it yet?" Gwen babbled and Jack laughed gently

"Gwen she's fine, she was just a little scared, and this is a totally different social environment than she's used to" and Gwen nodded, after hovering for a few seconds she retuned to her work and gave Jack a comforting smile before she left.

After a few minutes Jack looked up and saw Ianto and Sammie enter the office, she looked dryer than she had been before and she was dressed in a short brown skirt and a long sleeved green top and she was wearing some black boots to top the outfit off, her hair was loose and flowed around her shoulders

"I see Ianto has a good choice in clothes" Jack smiled and Sammie looked confused

"I thought you would need your things from home" Ianto explained "Since you're going to be staying with us" and Sammie nodded, biting her lip nervously

"Ianto took some of your things to your room, well it's not much of a room, it's small but cosy" Jack said and Sammie nodded again

"I just want you to know that you're safe here and nothing can harm you" Jack said with a serious look on his face. He looked up at the girl, she seemed tired but her eyes shone bright, it must be the after effects of the energy channelling.

"You should get some rest" Jack said kindly and Sammie smiled at him and left the room.

Sammie sat down on her low bed, Ianto had shown her to her new room and had left her with her bags a few minutes ago to give her some privacy whilst she unpacked. Jack was right the room was small but it was enough and with her things in it she felt a little better about the situation she was in.

Gwen walked into the room and Sammie felt nerves flow through her again, she wasn't used to all the attention she was getting and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not

"Hey" Gwen smiled kindly

"Hey" Sammie bit her lip nervously

There was an awkward silence for a few moments and then Sammie's mobile rand out through the silence, she fumbled around in her pocket for it and saw she had a text message, it was from her friend Becca

**Hey babe, howz u?**

**I tried u on ur home phone earlier but no1 was home**

**Just wanted to know wot went on with u and J earlier **

**Becca xx**

Sammie smiled as she saw the words from her friends.

"Who's that?" Gwen said

"My friend Becca" Sammie smiled

Sammie and Gwen spike for a few minutes longer and then Gwen left leaving Sammie to think for a bit.

Back in the main hub Jack was thinking at his desk when the desk light throbbed with energy, Ianto walked in and looked at the light

"We're going to have to work out a way for her to control it" Jack smiled

"I'll stock up on bulbs" Ianto said as the desk light flashed off and on again


	4. Let's see what you can do

Sammie opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was. She groaned as she realised that she was in the torchwood institute and the memories of yesterday came flooding back. She swung her legs out from under the duvet and went to get out of the bed, almost at once she wished she hadn't as she misjudged where the floor was and ended up falling onto it was a thud. She sat up and swore fluently and brushed the hair out of her eyes and there in front of her stood Captain Jack Harkness trying to hide his smile as he saw the young girl scowl up at him

"Morning" he said trying not to laugh

"Whatever" she growled

He gave her his hand and he pulled her up "I have to say you really have a mouth on you" he grinned

"Thanks" she said pushing her hair out of her eyes once more

"Anyway I just wanted to ask you to meet me in the meeting room in thirty minutes" he said as he turned to leave the room leaving the young girl standing there looking puzzled.

Sammie started to get ready for a new day in the torchwood institute, she looked in the bag that Ianto had left there yesterday and chose a black t-shirt with shoes on it and a pair of black jeans, she tied her hair up in a pony tail and began putting her make-up on, she chose dark colours to match her outfit as she wasn't in a good mood today. She left the room and entered the main part of the hub wondering where the meeting room was, soon after a few minutes looking she found it and entered.

In the room there was a glass table surrounded by chairs which were seating the forms of the team, around the room there were some screens with lots of numbers flashing across them. Sammie sat down on the remaining chair next to Ianto keeping her eyes on the floor; she wasn't used to having all the attention on her. When she looked up she saw that everyone's eyes were on her and she coughed nervously.

Jack took this as a cue to begin "Ok so lets get down to business" he said flashing one of his winning smiles at everyone in the room

All of the team fed back information of cases they had been working on and Sammie listened intently and heard talk of creatures she had never heard of, occasionally Ianto would explain what was going on and Sammie would listen, her eyes as wide as saucers. After a while talk turned to Sammie.

"Is she staying?" Owen asked bluntly and Sammie shot him a dirty look from across the table

"Yes, it's the safest option, if you're ok with that Sammie?"

"As if I have a choice" she said bitterly

Jack ignored the tone and carried on "So today I want to run some tests just to see what you can do" and Sammie nodded, Jack continued talking but Sammie didn't hear him, something inside of her had just been opened like a light turning on in a dark room and she closed her eyes for a moment 

"_I want to run some tests" Jack said to Emma who was holding Sammie on her knee_

"_Jack she's too young"_

"_She's two now and we need to see how strong they are" Jack replied and Emma sighed_

"_But Jack…" she began_

"_Just to see what she can do"_

"_Are you going to take her there?"_

"_I have to it's the safest place to do these tests"_

"_Jack, I don't want her to go into there, in fact I don't want her to know about Torchwood for as long as possible, the less she knows about it the better"_

"_You'll have to tell her one day"_

"_I know…" Emma replied sadly_

_Jack stood up and lifted Sammie from Emma and tickled the infant under the chin, the young girl gurgled happily in response,_

_Soon they were in a deep dark room, Jack set the girl down she tried to run away, ready to explore her new surroundings_

"_Sammie..." Jack said in a gentle but firm tone_

"_Daddy" she giggled _

"_Ok Sammie let's see what you can do" he said softly_

When Sammie opened her eyes again, she saw the whole team were staring at her with opened mouths; Jack stood up and tried to turn on the lights which had blown themselves out in the few minutes that she had her eyes closed

"Ok…" he said "Sammie I want you to come with me now" he said as he led her out of the room, soon they arrived in a deep dark room and Sammie gasped

"I've been here before" she said

"Yeah, but you were only two then"

"Why did I come here?"

"We ran some tests on you"

"Who's we?"

"Me and your mother"

"My mum worked for torchwood!"

"Yeah"

"Then why did she stop?"

"Because she had you and she decided that she didn't want you to become involved with torchwood"

"Bit late now" Sammie sighed, _there are so many things I didn't know about my own mum, what else could she of hidden from me?_

"Sammie?" Jack said softly

"Yeah?"

"Are you ready?" and she nodded

Jack sat her down on the edge of the table and started to prepare a needle

"What's that for?" she said nervously

"I need to put a line into your arm, for the tests"

Jack knelt down and too the girls arm, and went to find a vein, her eyes watched every move that he made, he pushed the needle in her arm and she winced as it went in

"Sorry" he said as he got back up, and went over to a complicated piece of equipment

"What's that?" Sammie said fighting back tears

"It's complicated but basically it measures energy" Jack said looking back at the girl "Now what I want you to do is close your eyes and think of your happiest memory" he said and Sammie nodded and closed her eyes

_The scene changed to a park in the summer, a group of young teenagers were running around the park spraying each other with water and screaming and laughing_

_A young boy grabbed Sammie and poured water over her head and she screamed in a mixture of delight and annoyance. She turned round and gave him a gentle push, and turned to walk away but he grabbed her and they fell into an embrace, the moment Sammie felt her lips touch his she felt like she would burst with happiness, that single moment brought happiness that she had never felt before, all around them there friends wolf whistled and teased the young couple._

Sammie opened her eyes and saw the darkened room was now filled with shades of pinks, oranges, yellows and reds; she turned to look at Jack

"Did I do that?" she asked and he nodded

"Ok now this is going to seem horrible but now think of your saddest memory

Sammie closed her eyes again

_The man stuck out his hand and said "I'm Captain Jack Harkness"_

_Sammie shook his hand gently but she still had a bemused expression on her face_

"_Ok this may sound like a really stupid question but how do you know my name?"_

"_It's a little confusing but I knew your mother and…"_

"_Knew…" Sammie said softly and Jack closed his eyes realising his mistake _

"_Sammie…"_

"_What happened to her?"_

"_She…she…"_

"_What the hell happened to her?" Sammie said getting angry _

"_Sammie she's dead"_

_Sammie closed her eyes wishing it was all a dream when she looked at Jack again he saw she had tears silently falling down her face_

"_I am so sorry" he whispered_

"_No….no it's not true she was fine this morning how….when?"_

"_She…she was attacked by a shadow we couldn't save her in time"_

"_What's a shadow?"_

"_A shade from the dark realms"_

_Jack put a comforting hand on her shoulder but she shook it off and glowered at him_

Sammie opened her eyes and nearly screamed, all around her swirled menacing shadows reaching out and trying to grab her, the room was filled with cold dark colours and there were areas so dark, Sammie couldn't bear to look into their depths. Jack walked over to her and put his arms around her, just him being there made her feel batter

"What is that?" she cried as the shadows faded back to where they came from

"Energy" Jack repeated, "It's what we all see when you channel energy from a sad or painful memory", I wanted to show it too you as this room can made the energy stay for a longer time than it usually does"

Sammie nodded and the peace was interrupted by Owen walking into the room

"Did she see it?" Owen asked

"Yeah" Jack nodded and Owen put a comforting hand on Sammie's shoulder

"I told you that you were wrong" he said softly and Sammie responded with a mixture of crying and laughter

"Now you need to learn how to control it" Owen said

"How?"

"I don't know yet" Jack replied "But that's enough for now"

Jack led the shaken girl out of the room, while she tried to get the memory of the shadows out of her mind.


	5. Part of the team

Sammie didn't sleep at all that night; she couldn't get the images out of her head. So eventually she sat up and logged onto her laptop which Jack had finally let her have back and she signed onto to msn, she was immediately greeted with a message

**Emorocker28: Hey!!!!!!!!**

**Sammie-xox: Hey…**

**Emorocker28: Where have you been, your mobile is off**

**Sammie-xox: Sorry…I've been busy with stuff**

**Emorocker28???????????**

**Sammie-xox: It's complicated **

**Emo-rocker28: I tried your house but you weren't in**

**Sammie-xox: Yeah…sorry I've been out **

**Emorocker28: Sammie what is going on with you?????**

**Sammie-xox: Nothing!**

**Emorocker28: Are you trying to avoid me??????????**

**Sammie-xox: What??**

**Emorocker28: You keep making excuses **

**Sammie-xox: No it's the truth**

**Emorocker28: Then tell me what's going on**

**Sammie-xox: I can't…**

**Emorocker28: Whatever Sammie…you know I thought we were friends…**

**Sammie-xox: we are!**

**Emorocker28: You've changed Sammie**

**Emo-rocker28 has logged off **

Sammie sighed as she saw those final words and she shut down her laptop, everything was changing, her mum was gone, her best friend just ditched her and now she had to live with a group of complete strangers who she knew nothing about. Sammie got back into bed, the silent tears streaming down her face.

Back on his office Jack sat up at his computer and sighed, on screen he had been following the conversation that Sammie had just been typing thanks to some clever technical device that Toshiko had put on Sammie's laptop just in case she told anyone about Torchwood. Jack had been reluctant to the idea but had eventually been won round but as he stared at the screen he wished he hadn't been won so easy

"Sir?" a voice broke through the silence

"Ianto how many times have I told you to call me Jack?" he smiled softly

"Sorry…Jack"

"How can I help you?"

"Are you ok Jack?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you've been staring at the screen for the last seven minutes"

Jack sighed and turned the screen towards Ianto who quickly read the conversation, his eyes quickly darting from word to word.

"Oh…" he said softly after reading it

"What do we do?"

Ianto paused for a moment before saying "You're the boss…" and then he left the room

Jack sighed and switched off the monitor before saying to himself "Yeah…I am…"

The next morning Jack was up early calling the team in to the board room to discuss the latest alien sighting, Sammie entered last and it was obvious to every member in the room that she had been crying, her eyes looked red as well as sore and her face was drained of any colour, Jack sighed but started the meeting

"Ok team, this morning at 5am we got strong energy readings from any area called the Bracken Woods, we checked and we've had reading there before but this morning they were the strongest ever and people have phoned the police saying they had sightings of shadows and laughter and a whole host of spooky stuff"

"Bracken Woods, does it have any super natural history?" Gwen asked

"In the eighteenth century is was regarded as a place where witches would hold Sabbats and in the early nineteenth century there were a few bodies found there but no explanation to how they got there and so ever since then it's been seen as an unlucky place to go" Sammie said in one breath, the team all stared at Sammie

"How did you know that?" Owen asked looking shocked

"Did a project on it at school" she shrugged

Owen and Jack exchanged glances shocked at how much she knew

"Ok so we're going to do a trip out there to see what's going on, team you know what to do, so usual formation everybody"

And that was the end of the meeting; Sammie got up and started to walk back to her room when Jack stopped her

"Where are you going?"

"Well you don't need me"

"You are the only one of the team who knows about the woods in great detail, we need you"

"Part of the team?" Sammie said looking puzzled

"Yeah…part of the team" Jack smiled

And then things passed so quickly, she was in the S.U.V speeding towards Bracken Woods. When they go there Sammie started to remember details about woods and when she got out of the S.U.V and stood on the carpet of damp, rotting leaves she felt a chill pass through her and she shivered under the humid air. She looked at Jack and he nodded so she started taking a path along a route she knew well, soon she came to an old knotted oak tree and she stopped and turned to the others

"This is where the first body was supposedly found" she said as she took a step to the left and that's when it happened.

_A man ran through the forest, terrified and calling out for help. He was dressed in formal but old style clothes which were no dirtied by mud and other grime from the forest floor_

"_Leave me alone" he screamed as he ran and stumbled through the undergrowth. As he turned round to see what was chasing him, he fell over a root and landed in the carpet of rotting leaves, taking in a mouthful of dirt and other nasty surprises_

"_What do you want from me?" he screamed but It was too late, a shadow crept over him and then came the piercing scream which shot through the silent forest, then silence…_

"Sammie?" a worried voice brought Sammie to her senses and she groggily opened her eyes and murmured, she was laying on the forest floor and her head felt heavy and the images before her swirled in front of her eyes, when they eventually stopped she tried to sit up but strong hands pushed her back down

"You need to rest for a bit" came a voice from up above her

"Owen?" she said as she glanced up and sure enough there he was cradling her head in his hands

"Bet you never thought you'd be glad to see me" he smiled

"What happened?" she said groggily

"You passed out" Owen said pressing fingers to her neck to get her pulse "Your pulse is still quite weak"

"Where is he?"

"Where's who?" Jack said crouching down before her

"The man, he was running through here he was dressed in old clothes and he was being chased by something and then he tripped and then…"

Jack paused for a moment thinking whilst Owen tried to console Sammie who was now shaking and sobbing "Sammie I think you had a vision, I think that there is energy in these woods and you channelled it by accident and you saw what happened to one of these bodies all those years ago"

Sammie looked at Jack shaking and slowly she stood up, Owen gently holding her so she didn't fall, "Jack what does a shadow look like when its takes form on earth?"

"It literally looks like a shadow you would find on earth but it is much darker and it moves quickly and to look at one directly is truly terrifying, these shadows will kill, they have no remorse they just feed on the souls of humans and once they find a victim they won't stop until they hunt it down" Jack said solemnly

"Then that man was killed by a shadow and a shadow feeds on souls, and so I assume it takes energy from the souls and that means there's one after me from what you told me when I first met you" she said slowly

"Let's not make assumptions" Jack said looking at her

"Jack if we can stop this shadow, then we can save someone's life"

"No…"

"Why not?"

"You're just a child"

"Then why did you let me come?"

"Because…"

But Sammie didn't let Jack finish "I am nearly sixteen and from what you've told me I could be the key to this mystery and I am not going to let my mothers death be in vain" she shouted.

Jack paused "Ok fine but you stick close to me and you do not go out of anyone's sight"

"Fine"

"Then let's go" he said walking close to her.

But what the team didn't see was a dark shadow flick across the forest floor behind them.


	6. We're nearly there

Sammie tried to walk ahead of the group as they made their way through the woods but every now and again Jack would give her a look and she would slow down for a bit but not for long. The evening was drawing in and a wind was starting to pick up, Owen shivered and pulled his jacket around him as he ran up to Sammie

"Why are you doing this?" he said shivering as the wind whipped about his face

"I told you…" she said sounding distant

"No…what's the real reason?" he said stopping her

She paused for a moment and then said "Because I feel guilty"

"Why?"

"Because the last thing I said to my mother was that I hated her and I wished she was dead and now thanks to me she is and I am never going to see her again and I can never tell her that I'm sorry for what I said and that I didn't mean it, it's all my fault" Sammie said with tears building up in her eyes

Jack had heard Sammie's tone walked up to her quickly and put a hand on her shoulder as a means of comfort but she just shook it off and dried her eyes_ she wasn't going to let anyone see her cry not again especially not in front of Jack and the others she was stronger than that_

"We should keep going" she said coldly, blinking back tears and she took off again at such a pace that the rest of the group had to run to keep up with her.

When Sammie was far enough ahead of them so that they couldn't see her face, she couldn't hold back her emotions any longer; silent tears streamed down her face as she finally grieved for the loss of her mother and soon these silent tears became audible sobs and even from metres behind her the group could see the young girl shaking with emotion as feelings bottled up for years came flooding out of her. Jack finally caught up with her but by the time he did she was already wiping the tears off her face. In the short time Jack had spent with her, he knew that she wasn't one to cry in front of others and it was rare for her to show emotion like this. Sammie turned away from Jack and walked over to sit on a rock. Her hands gripped its cold hard surface and she gasped as she had another vision of people being killed by this shadow that roamed the woods but this time the shadow turned and she found herself staring into the endless darkness and she screamed. Suddenly she felt strong arms grab her and she thrashed about until she heard a voice "Sammie open your eyes and look at me" the voice belonged to Jack and slowly she opened her eyes and looked up at Jack who wore a worried expression on his face

"What the hell happened?" Owen said as he ran up to them

"Energy channelling she channelled too much too soon and she couldn't cope with it"

Sammie weakly pushed Owens' hands back and shakily stood up "I'm ok" she murmured

"It's these woods they have too much energy in them you can't cope with it" Jack said "We're going back now"

"No I'm ok" she said her voice coming back stronger with every second that passed

"Sammie I will not have a member of my team put in danger"

"I need to do this"

"We turn back now"

"But we're nearly there I can feel it" she said and with that she took off into the woods stumbling slightly as she ran _must be an after effect of the energy channelling she thought_

The rest of the group sprinted after her and nearly lost sight of her a few times

"She's fast" Owen said breathing heavily

"Jack we can't keep up with her" Gwen said gasping for breath

"It's ok I put a tracking device on her bag before we left the hub, see I can find her on this" Toshiko said holding up a small monitor.

Finally they caught up with Sammie who had stopped to catch her breath. Jack immediately grabbed her before she could take off again

"What the hell do you think you're doing" he said angrily

"Trying to make sure no one else dies"

"You put yourself in so much danger running off like that, not to mention everyone else" he said pointing back at the group

Sammie turned away from Jack and shook herself out of his grasp

"Where do you think you're going now" he shouted after her

"I told you, we're nearly there"

"You don't even know what you're looking for"

Sammie was about to reply when a dark form broke out from the cover of the trees and went directly for Sammie knocking her off her feet and sending her sprawling across the damp woodland ground. The whole thing happened in less than a second and no one had anticipated it happening but seeing it attack Sammie made the whole team jump into action and they desperately tried to fight the shadow to get it off Sammie who was screaming as the shadow lunged over her, she kicked and thrashed about but it was no use the shadow was too strong for her and with that she felt herself drift off into darkness


	7. Drifting off into the darkness

As Sammie drifted into the darkness everything sounded further and further away; she could hear Owen shouting about mass loss of blood, she could hear Gwen's scream, she could hear Toshiko babbling out a string of technical words and then she heard Ianto repeating her name and then she could hear Jack begging her to stay with him. But then it all went silent and she could hear her companions no more.

…………………………………………

The team fought long and hard to release Sammie from the shadow but it was so strong and with Sammie thrashing about it made it harder for the team to fight. All of a sudden Sammie stopped thrashing about and laid very still, the shadow fled off into the forest and everyone ran forward to the limp form.

"What happened, why did it go?" Gwen screamed

"It finished feeding" Toshiko said and then did a scan of the surrounding area as Owen crouched down beside Sammie who had lost all colour from her face, he took off his jacket and pressed it against the bleeding wound "Jack she's lost a lot of blood"

Jack crouched down beside Sammie and clasped her small hand in his begging her to stay with him "Come on Sammie stay with me"

Suddenly Owen jumped up and grabbed his medical kit closer and then started compressions on the small form that lay in front of him

"What happened?" Jack shouted

"She stopped breathing" Owen said pushing his hands down

"Sammie come on" Ianto said and everyone was shocked at this sudden outburst

Owen continued the resuscitation but there was no response, after a while he looked up at Jack and softly said "It's been thirty minutes and there's still no response"

"You have to keep trying" Jack yelled

"Jack she's gone" Owen said trying to fight away the tears

"No"

"Jack she's not breathing and her heart stopped beating, she's cold"

"No she can't be"

"I'm sorry"

"The reason I let her come with us was to make her feel part of the team, I saw the conversation she had on her laptop and I thought that if we included her then she might…" but Jack couldn't continue

"Jack it's not your fault" Owen said softly

"Then whose fault is it?" Jack shouted but Owen stayed quiet

……………………………………

Back at the hub Owen laid out Sammie's body before he put it into what Torchwood called "Storage", she looked so small and weak before him

"I'm sorry" he whispered "You're not wrong"

Jack came in and stood beside him and when Owen turned to face him he could see that he had been crying "She looks so small" Jack whispered and Owen touched him gently on the shoulder and left the room to give Jack some time alone

"Oh Sammie I am so sorry for everything, I should have been there for you, to hold you in my arms but now it's too late" Jack sobbed as he leant down and kissed her gently on her forehead like one would do to a sleeping baby.

Jack sat with her for a long time, holding her cold hand and brushing her long brown her off her face, he looked down at the small hand he was holding and closed his eyes, suddenly he felt something move in his hand and he opened them and saw that only very slightly Sammie's hand had just gently gripped his. Jack stood up and yelled for Owen who ran in towards him

"She just gripped my hand" Jack shouted

"Jack she's gone" Owen said softly

"She did" Jack said determinedly

"Jack…" Owen began but as he looked over at her, he saw her chest rise and fall very slightly "…Oh my god" he gasped and ran to get his medical kit. As he hooked her up to a heart monitor surely enough a heartbeat was recorded on it, a weak one but all the same a heartbeat, which was getting stronger by every hour that passed

"How is this happening?" said Gwen who had joined them after she had heard all the yelling

"She must have had a tiny amount of energy left in her from the woods but it was enough to slowly start her heart" Jack said almost crying with joy

"She's a real fighter" Owen said sighing in relief

And enough as her heartbeat got stronger, the colour flew back into her cheeks and after a few more hours a pair of green eyes groggily flicked open and her gaze was met by a fleet of worried faces.

She groaned "Hey" she murmured looking up at everyone and was soon met by a strong hug from Jack who was now crying gently "What happened and why I am about to go into the corpse cupboard?" she said using a term she had first created when she had found the storage facility

"You sort of died when the shadow attacked you but you had enough energy in you to start your heart again"

"Clever me" she murmured

"What's the last thing you remember" said Toshiko gently

"You lot all screaming at me not to go and by the way Owen you really sound like a girl when you scream"

Owen snorted "Glad to see that your sense of humour hasn't been damaged" and Sammie smiled gently

"Don't you ever do that to us again" Jack said looking down at her

"I'm not planning to any time soon don't worry" she smiled as she looked down the bed she was on "Ok now that we've acknowledged that I'm alive can I please get away from the corpses or are you just giving me a really big hint" she laughed softly and as she was taken back to the hub Jack stayed with her gripping her hand as if he never wanted to let go of her.


	8. A conversation overheard

Sammie sighed as she drummed her fingers aimlessly on the cool metal table she was sitting on in the hub. It was now three weeks since she had died and come back to life and things had moved on a lot since then but some things had stayed the same namely Owen giving her daily medical tests which consisted of her being poked and prodded to within an inch of her life. And today was no exception, she had only just got in from school and already Owen had dragged her towards the medical station and was preparing to probe her once again.

"Do we have to do this everyday?" she moaned

"Yeah" Owen said as he busied himself with preparing the needle

"Why?"

"Jack's orders" he smirked "Now roll up your sleeve please"

Sammie did with a pout on her face "I'm really getting fed up of this"

"Well let's just get on with this then" and Sammie nodded

"Right well you know the drill, first I'm going to take a blood sample then I'm going to check the usual; pulse, heart rate well you get the idea, now first you're going to feel a small prick" Sammie opened her mouth to reply but Owen quickly silence her "And no thanks I really don't want to hear one of your smart arse replies thanks" he laughed.

He pushed the needle into her bare arm and felt her wince as it pierced the skin, he took a sample of her blood and released the needle "There that wasn't so bad was it?" he said putting some cotton wool on her arm to stop the bleeding

"Easy for you to say you're not the one being probed everyday"

"Jack's just looking out for you anyway how do you feel today?"

"Fine!"

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Well your heartbeat is a little irregular again" Sammie groaned and let Owen continue "But Jack thinks it's to do with the energy channelling but I want to keep a close eye on you ok?"

"Yeah ok can I go now?" and Owen nodded

Sammie leapt of the bench and made her way into the main hub nearly colliding with Jack

"Sorry "she said as she narrowly dodged him

"What's the rush?" he said laughing

"No reason" she said dashing off

Jack shook his head and made his way down towards the medical station where he met with Owen

"How did it go?"

"Blood is normal and pulse is good but her heart beat was irregular again"

"I'm sure it's something to do with the energy channelling it's changing her inside"

"I'm worried because her heart beat is becoming more and more irregular"

"Could it be from when she came back to life?"

"Could be, does it happen to you?"

"No but then again we came back in different ways, she came back through energy channelling…"

"What?"

"There's something I need to tell you…"

"Go on…"

"We might have traces of the same DNA which means the she's getting energy from channelling it and from energy you get when you have the ability to come back to life"

"What do you mean we might?" Owen asked raising his eyebrows in concern

"Oh come on Owen what did they teach you in medical school?" Jack said sighing

"So what you're saying is that you're related?"

"Yeah"

"How did that happen?"

"Oh come on! You must have seen the lion king or do you want a diagram?"

"Ok ok does she know?"  
"Nope…"

"Jack you have to tell her!"

"So what I am meant to say, oh by the way Sammie I'm your dad and the reason why your mother never mentioned me is because she didn't want you to ever know about torchwood"

Jack suddenly sensed something behind him and he turned around. There behind him stood Sammie who had now turned bright red at being found out

"I….I ummm I left my bag sorry" she mumbled as she grabbed her bag and ran out of the hub"

"How much do you think she heard?" Jack asked looking worried. Owen didn't reply but Jack knew his answer

"I have to go and find her" he said running out of the hub after her


	9. You let go

Jack ran out into the middle of Cardiff bay, the late afternoon sun was setting and the bay was alive with the usual hustle and bustle of people going about their daily lives. He quickly glanced around but he couldn't see her amongst everyone and though he hadn't exactly watched her grow up like a normal parent would do, he already knew some of her characteristics very well, like if Sammie didn't want to be found then it would be impossible to find her.

Meanwhile Sammie sat alone on a patch of damp grass at the graveyard; she tucked her legs underneath her and buried her hands in her head. When she looked up through blurred teary eyes she finally realised where she was. Sammie was a little shocked she had come here without even thinking about it and now she was here she wasn't sure what she was meant to do. She had never been religious so a prayer wouldn't help and she didn't need any comforting words from a religious book so she just sat there staring into space and just thinking.

Jack had searched all over but he still couldn't find her, by now he was in the S.U.V and was searching further away from the hub, he knew that Sammie couldn't have gone that far because she had no money so she must be around somewhere. All of a sudden Jack hit the brakes, he had just driven past an old dilapidated graveyard and without another glance he jumped out of the S.U.V and ran towards it. He knew Sammie must be here or at least he hoped as this was the only other place he thought she could be. As Jack rounded the corner he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her sitting there silently, he walked up to her slowly, his feet making no sound on the damp grass below him.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people" Jack jumped at the sound of her voice, it echoed in the gloomy grounds surrounding them

"Sorry" he said as he sat down beside her but she made no reply "Sammie…" he started as he put a hand on her shoulder but she coolly brushed it off

"Get lost" she snarled and stood up

"Why did you come here?"

"What?"

"Why did you come here of all places?" and Sammie shrugged in response "I think I know why" Jack said softly "And you do too"

Sammie closed her eyes and it all came flooding back to her

"**Jack! Jack! Where is she?" Emma screamed as she ran out into the garden **

"**She was there just a minute ago" Jack yelled running after her**

"**She's 5 years old Jack she can't have gone that far!"**

**Jack bolted out of the front door and down the road in a frantic search for his young daughter who had managed to give them the slip once again, he looked everywhere and finally he came across an old graveyard. He hurtled into it and with a great relief he saw her sitting on the grass there in front of him**

"**Sammie!" he cried **

"**Daddy!" she giggled **

"**Sammie" he said scooping her up in his arms "Don't you ever do that again, we were so worried about you ok don't you ever run off again promise me!"**

"**But Daddy I wanted to explore"**

"**Sammie it was very naughty of you to run off like that"**

"**I'm sorry"**

"**Promise me"**

"**I promise"**

**Jack hugged his young daughter tightly like he never wanted to let go again**

"But you did let go" Sammie said opening her eyes

"I know…"

"And I broke my promise" she said smiling a little "Quite a lot recently"

"You always were trouble, right from the moment you were born"

"Is it true?" and Jack nodded slowly

"I'm sorry you had to hear it that way"

"You always had a big mouth right from the moment I met you" Sammie said bitterly and Jack laughed

"You really are your mother's daughter"

"Why did you go?"

"She chose, when she had you she chose to leave Torchwood behind so she could keep you safe and eventually that meant she had to give up me as well"

"So why didn't you tell me sooner"

"Because I'm stupid"

"You can say that again"

"Sammie, I nearly lost you when that shadow attacked you"

"I know…"

"And when you ran off I thought I'd lost you all over again, the thought of that tore me apart, and I can't loose you again"

"I need her" Sammie said fighting back tears

"I think you're a lot stronger than you think, when I look into your eyes I don't see a child anymore I see a young lady who's growing up into a beautiful, intelligent, kind and caring human being and I couldn't be more proud and I know your mother was too but now we need to move on together"

Sammie turned to Jack and burst into tears. He held her close hugging the delicate form beneath him. All the emotions of all the years poured out of her and Jack held her close.

After a while the tears had stopped and Jack and Sammie made there way back to the hub. Before they entered Jack turned to Sammie and held her hand "I will not ever let go again, I promise you" and Sammie nodded.

As they entered the hub everyone looked up at them with relieved looks on their faces as Sammie passed them.

Owen stopped in front of her and said softly "Like father like daughter, always impulsive!" and Sammie laughed "But don't ever do that again, we were so worried about you"

Sammie turned and glanced at Jack "I promise" she said


	10. I'm so proud of you

It was now two months later and Sammie's 16th birthday. The team had thrown her a party in the hub and everyone was smiling. Jack held his daughter tight and made a speech about how proud he was which made Sammie squeal in embarrassment.

"I'm so proud of you Sammie; you've grown up and become a real part of the team even though you can be stroppy, mouthy, annoying, sarcastic and such a teenager at times!" Jack said sitting down

"Hey, I'm not annoying, well not that much anyway!" and Owen snorted with laughter "Ok how am I annoying?"

"Well when you get pissed off your voice goes high pitched"

"It does not!" she said accidentally proving Owens point and everyone burst out laughing

"Anyway moving on before Owen feels the wrath of Sammie going into supersonic mode" Ianto laughed as Sammie shot him a mock hurt look "you have to open your presents"

Sammie had received a book on alien flora from Ianto, a necklace from Gwen, a lie detector from Toshiko and from Owen she received what he called a spidery mouse thing which Jack avoided for the rest of the day and from Jack she received a small locket with a photo of him, Emma and Sammie in it

"Thank you" she said to everyone

And from that moment on all the secrets and lies that Sammie had had put on her seemed like a distant memory away.


End file.
